Ratchet device



2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR. @w

ATTORNEYS.

M. J. CLABBY RATCHET DEVICE July 21, 1936.

Filed June 16, 1934 y 21, 1 y M. J. CLABBY 2,048,538

RATCHET DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 193?) A TTORNEYS.

Patented July 21, 1936 UNITED STATES 2,048,53&

PATENT OFFICE Armstrong Manufacturing 00.,

New York,

N. Y., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 16, 1934,. SerialNo. 730,934

Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved ratchet device which can beused for various pur- P0568.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide 5 an improved ratchetdevice for operating tools of various kinds, such as thread-cuttingtools, screw drivers, reamers, taps, drills, etc. This generaldescription of some of the objects of the invention is made withoutlimiting its field of use as the invention is generally applicable forintermittentlyturning any driven member in either direction, by means ofa device which is turned back and. forth. Said operating device. engagesthe driven member when said operating device is; turned in onedirection,and said operating device is released from said driven member, when saiddevice isturned in, the opposite or inoperati-ve direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide an operating device ofthis type, said device having staggered operating pawls, so as toeliminate backlash. Another object of the invention is to provide atleast two pairs of ratchet pawls, one of said pairs. being operative toturn the; driven member,

so as to lengthenthe, life of the device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quick release of theimproved driving member from the driven member, by locating andarrangingthe operating pawls, so that they can be directly turned by thehand of the. operator, to the inoperative position.

Another object. of the invention is to locate the operating pawls in acasing which is provided a suitable. opening or openings, so that theoperating pawls. can be directly turned to. the inoperative position,when it is desired to release the driven member, or for any otherpurpose.

Another object of the invention is toprovide. an improved cam controlfor moving the operating pawls out of operative position. Another objectof the invention is to provide a single spring for actuating all of thepawls to the operative position. v I

While the device has been heretofore, referred to as a ratchet device,it is to be understood" that the invention is not to be limited to theuse of a ratchet, or inclined teeth and, that the term ratchet generallyincludes, any device of the general type described herein.

Fig. l is a plan view showing the assembly of;

the operating device and the driven member.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fi 1. Fig. 3; is a detail front elevationof the driven member. This view also includes a section of the collar ofthe operating device.

Fig. 4' is a plan view of the operating device, the pawls being shown inthe neutral or inoperative position. 5

Fig. 5 is a plan View partially in section showing the operating deviceassembled with the driven member. In this view the pawls are in aposition suitable for positively driving the driven' member in theclockwise direction, if the eye 10 of the observer is assumed to beabove the plane of Fi 5.

Fig. 6 is a viewsimilar to- Fig. 5, the pawls being shown in theposition suitable for driving the tdriven member in the counterclockwise direc- Fig. 7 is a detail View partially in section showingthe cam device for shifting the pawls either to the neutral positionshown in Fig. 4', or to either one of the positions shown in Fig. 5 andFig. 6. 20

The driven member I may be of any conventional type and it is partiallyshown in the draw ingsherein, since it is to be understood that anysuitable drill, reamer, tap, thread-cutting die or other tool member maybe either integral with 5 said driven member I, or to be suitablyconnected thereto. I

The shank of said driven member I is provided with vertical grooves 8,which define intermediate vertical teeth 9. 30

For convenience in describing and defining the invention, it is assumedthat the operating device is held in a horizontal plane, but of'coursesaid device can operate in any plane.

Said teeth 9 and said grooves 8 have substan- 35 tially smooth surfaces,and the horizontal lines which are illustrated in connection with thegrooves 8 in Fig. 3, are shade lines.

shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the operating device has a collar I0 whichgenerally conforms to the 40 shape of the shank of the driven member I.

Said collar H! has a smooth inner periphery and said collar I0 has anopening between the top and bottom thereof, along a portion of theperiphery of said collar I0, so that the operating 45 pawls can entersaid collar H], in order to engage the teeth 9.

The opening in the 'wall of said collar to is preferably less thanalthough the inven-' tion is not to be restricted in this particular. 50

The operating device also comprises a casing R, which may be of taperedshape, and said casing has a bottom wall B, and a top wall T. Saidcasing also has a mouth it, which is'provided with an internal thead. 55

The arm I4 has its end externally threaded at I5 so that said arm'l4 canengage the mouth I2 of the tapered casing R; in order to turn theoperating device back and forth.

I The casing is also provided with two. pairsof operating pawls, one ofsaid pairs including the pawls I6 and I611, the'other'pair including thepawls I8 and I8a. The pawls I6 and IBa-are turnably mounted upon a pivotpin I1, and the pawls I8 and I8a, are turnably mountedupon a I pivot pinIIa. However, the invention is not to be limited to any particularlocation or arrangement of the pawls. V

As shown in Fig. 2, the-pivot pin I! has a bottom end which isexternally threaded, and this engages an. internally threadedopeningwhich is provided in the bottom Wall E. Said pivot pins I1 andI'Ia. are generally shaped like screws, save that they have smooth shankpor tions upon which. the pawls are turnably mounted.

Asshownin Fig. 2, the side walls of thecas- V 'ing'R are provided withopenings intermediate :the top and bottom. walls T and B, andi theseopenings are of sufficient height so that the 'outer'ends of the'pawls'can be pressed by. the

fingers of the operator in order to directly turn said pawlsto theinoperative position, without the 1 use of any cam devices, or the like.

As shown in Fig. 1, said operating pawls may' be ,located'wholly withinthe inclined side walls of the casing R, in all the positions of saidpawls,

- so that said pawls are protected against accidental blows or the like,by said side Walls of the casing R.

As shown in Fig.5, the pawls of each pair are;

of unequal length. The short pawl I6of one pair is above thelong pawlIBwof the same pair. The long pawl I8 of the second pair is above theshort pawl I8a 'ofsaid second pair. The pawls I 6 and I8a. arepreferably of the same length and they correspond to each other in allrespects,

and the pawls I8 and IBa likewise correspond to each other. I

Likewise, the pivot pin IIais identical in con struction' with the pinI'I.

The inner surfaces of the pawls have the general contour shown'in Fig.6, each .of said inner turns in a suitable opening the top wall T.

turns in said opening.

.members to limitthe movement surfaces being provided with a'shoulderwhich,

can be engaged by the cam C. Said cam C has the general shape, shown inFig. 6 and Fig. '7 and it is provided with two parallel planar: facesand 7 two curved end faces.

The bottom wall B of the'casing R is' provided with a circular openingthrough which the cam C can be passed. The "bottom end of said cam ofthe driven member. 7

'The heads of the pins I! and [1a. act as stop of the thumbpieceZOb.

The outer ends of the pawls are provided with aligned'partial recesses,and a single. com- The member 20 is When this point 20a;

pression coil spring S has its ends located in said recesses, so thatsaid spring S tends to'force the inner ends of the pawl members, intoengagement with the shank of the driven'member I..

The shank of the driven member I is preferably upon the teeth 9. ,Thecasing R is ordinarily turned about 180 at each stroke thereof and byhaving an odd number of teeth, the pawls are caused to come into contactwith different teeth, during each consecutive half revolution. The

grooves'8 and the teeth 9 may be made of equal I width, measured alongthe periphery of the shank of the driven member I. In such case, and.assuming that the long pawl I8 abuts one of the teeth 9, as shown inFig. 6,the short pawl I80) w has its inner end substantiallyaligned'with the edge of the consecutive tooth 9.-

However, and if desired, the teeth 9 could be made somewhat wider thanthe grooves B. l

It is clear that the long pawlbr the short by the pawl of either-pair ofpawls, may be used for tapered casing R and if it is desired to promptlyrelease the driven member, this can be done by nwardly pressing theouter ends of the pawls, 1rrespectrve of the position of the cam C;

The use of two separate pivot members Hand Ha likewise increases thestrength and the life of the device. The useof; a single spring forcontrolling all the pawls increases the simplicity and lowers the costof manufacture. of the device.

The efiect of using two pairs pawls having 7 the different lengths andarranged in the mariner shown, substantially quadruples the life of the7 device.

Referring to Figs. 4-6, if one of the pairs of pawls is turned intothe'operative position, and.

thecasing R is turned in the desired direction, 1t is impossible for theoperator to turnsaid casing R'through a distance which is greaterthanthe. width of a groove 8, before one of the operatrve pawls begins toturn the shank I. This is due to the use of a pair of operatingpawls oneach side of the casing, said pawls staggered relation.

If only a single pawl were utilized, said pawl being". arranged in r icould move for a distance which would corre 1 spond substantially tothewidth of two grooves before said pawlwould beginto'operate. .Since 7these devices areturned with considerable force, it is desirable tominimize the relative free movement between thebperatingdevice' and:the-

driven member, at each stroke of the. operating device. 4 r 7 While itis preferred. to have atleast two pawls on each side of the operatingdevice, the invention is not limited in certain aspects thereof, to theuse of two or more pawls uponeachside of the device. j

For convenience the member C, can be designated as a selector becauseitselects the inoperative or operative positions of the pawls. Likewise,and in order .todescribe the invention conveniently, the outer 'ends'ofthe pawls" may be designated as being directly accessible, thisexpression being used in order to indicate that said outer ends may bedirectly manipulated by the fingers of the operator.

For example, the selector means can be of any suitable or conventionaltype.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is clearthat numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing fromits spirit.

I claim:

1. An operating device of the ratchet type and having an opening inwhich the shank of a driven member may be located, said shank havingteeth, said device having two pairs of pawls which are mounted uponseparate pivot members, the pawls of each pair being of unequal lengthso that their inner ends are spaced from each other, said inner endsbeing adapted tocontact with difl'erent teeth of said shank, andselector means for controlling the positions of said pawls.

2. An operating device of the ratchet type having an opening in whichthe shank of a driven member may be located, said shank having teeth,said device having two pairs of pawls which are mounted upon separatepivot members, the pawls of each pair being of unequal length so thattheir inner ends are spaced from each other, said inner ends beingadapted to contact with difierent teeth of said shank, and selectormeans for controlling the positions of said pawls, the outer ends ofsaid pawls being directly accessible and having compression spring meanslocated between said outer ends.

3. An operating device of the ratchet type and having an opening inwhich the shank of a driven member may be located, said shank havingteeth, said device having two pairs of pawls which are mounted uponseparate pivot members, the pawls of each pair being of unequal lengthso that their inner ends are spaced from each other, said inner endsbeing adapted to contact with dififerent said pivot pin, the side wallsof said casing havl0 ing openings so that said pawls are directlyaccessible, each pair of pawls being of unequal length so that the innerends of said pawls are adapted to engage different teeth of said drivenmember, a single compression spring located between the outer ends ofsaid pawls, the outer ends of said spring being operatively connected tothe outer ends of said pawls, and selector means mounted on said casingand adapted to control the positions of said pawls.

5. An operating device of the ratchet type comprising a. casing having acollar in which the shank of a driven member may be located, said shankhaving teeth, said casing having spaced pivot pins, a pair of pawlsmounted upon each said pivot pin, the side walls of said casing havingopenings so that said pawls are directly accessible, each pair of pawlsbeing of unequal length so that the inner ends of said pawls are adaptedto engage different teeth of said driven member, a single compressionspring located between the outer ends of said pawls, the outer ends ofsaid spring being operatively connected to the outer ends of said pawls,and selector means mounted on said casing and adapted to control 35 thepositions of said pawls, the longer pawl of one pair occupying the sameposition as the shorter pawl of the other pair.

MICHAEL J. CLABBY.

